"15mm Space Cowboys....?" Topic

A little bit of Market Research….

We would love to do a pack of 15mm "Space Cowboy" style free trader crew and passengers – I'm sure 99% of you will know exactly what I mean without me spelling it out, suffice to say that they would be "inspired" by a group of characters we all know and love….

Now, IF we did it, it would be a pack of 8 or 9 figures (depending on whether we include a Man of the Cloth or not!), but obviously it would have to be a full set of one-off sculpts. This would be considerably more costly for us to do than the usual 2-each-of-4-sculpts pack of 15mm, especially as with those we are usually getting two to three conversion variants from each original master. So, having the character pack sculpted would cost us about the same as producing probably 3-4 packs of more typical military 15mm, and of course most folks are likely to buy just ONE of the character packs compared with several multiples of troopers.

I know a good few of you out there would like to see such a pack, and frankly so would I – but the bottom line is whether it is commercially viable or not. So, I'm trying to gauge reaction to the idea – what I'd like folks to do is that if you're SERIOUSLY interested and would plan to buy at least one pack if we made them, please EMAIL me directly to jonATgzgDOTcom, with "Yes, I want some Space Cowboys!" in the subject line of the mail. This is very informal, it's not a pre-order – I don't want payment info, addresses or anything like that, and you are not committing yourselves to anything – I just want to know if enough people are genuinely keen to see this.

Over to you…. ;-)

Jon (GZG)
gzg.com

A quick follow-up to my own post…. if the proposed character pack had to be priced higher than the regular 15mm packs to compensate for the greater costs and smaller sales numbers, would you still go for it?

Jon (GZG)

Id be more interrested in that range done in 28mm or larger.
(just keep it under 40mm)
<2cents/>

I know you want e-mail for yes so I will reply here, "No, cool as it sounds, I would not buy it."

Never watched the show so I can not honestly say I am one of the lusting group for this.

Gracias,

Glenn

I'll email you with a yes (or yes please)….Just a thought though you could do two character packs the same as the civilians, okay this would mean you had the two of each but a preacher, prostitute , mechanic, pilot etc would be just a useful as generic types added to the civilian range.

Two of the crew in longcoats would go quite well with longcoated armed figures currently in the armed civilian packs. Which i'm planning on using as regulators in my post apoc' games, just because they resemble a certain group of characters doesn't mean you have to use them that way.

While I would most likely buy a set in 15mm, like someone else said, I would much rather they were done in 28mm. And yes, I would pay a bit more if they were done in 28mm.

While I would think they are cool, I would not get them in 15mm. However, I would almost certainly buy a set in 28mm.

"I would much rather they were done in 28mm"

GZG doesn't do 28mm, but rather 25mm.

Name one of them Maurice

As a general pronciple i would pay more for a character pack for one of the 15mm armies to give more variety, (notwithstanding that other variety packs have been promulgated) but I am not interested in the space cowboys.

I like the idea of character packs.

I like the idea of keeping the packs the same price, but fewer figures. So 8 characters could be two packs. gives an opporunity to pick and choose if you are not recreating the specific setting.

Martin

Yes, it would depend on the increase in price.

I'd buy them in 25mm. If I played 15mm I might be interested.

WereSandwich

Great reason to start with 15mm

A yes on the way.

Andrew
kings-sleep.blogspot.com

Yes, I would buy a specialty character pack in 15mm, even if it cost more than the regular infantry packs.

Jon it's not done yet? Yes I will buy at least two…..

For the record Jon if you produce 15mm Character figures I will buy them period.

What I would love is a character pack with the character in regular clothing, a vaccsuit, maybe even evening wear….

For the record I own all of PeterPigs character packs just because they had a couple of sculpts each of the main character…

Heck, if you want to do some Aliens I am good for those too…

How bout a pack of "the other space cowboys" as well? Of japanese origin, they are…there have been as many threads on here about them as those of which you speak in your first post. They would also require fewer figures, more like 5, just a single pack I think? Just a thought.

Jim

I might be lynched for this:

But yes, I would buy even at 3X the normal price. But how about this:

Different pack with just One character and the rest as generic "Space Cowboy" types. And then sell as many different packs to cover all the characters.

Something like say:

1 Captain w/ pistol and 7 space cowboys 3 variants.
1 Female first-mate and 7 space gangsters 3 variants.
1 Big second-mate with lots of guns and 7 federal space troopers 3 variants.
1 Female spaceship mechanic and 7 space militia 3 variants.
1 Female Space Strumpet and 7 businessmen and diplomats 3 variants.
1 Spaceship pilot and 7 space laborers 3 variants.
1 Young female passenger with guns and axe, and 7 space zombies 3 variants.
1 Young male passenger with medical gear and 7 space assassins 3 variants.
1 Space Holy-man and 7 space pilgrims 3 variants.

This way you have you normal 4 sculps per set, but do not over-do the special character figures. Also this leaves lots of room for expansion to other posses for the characters (like: in dusters, different weapons etc.)

This will mean 9x the sales not just the 3x I would be willing to pay. And all the figures can be useful both to people who want to play this specific setting and perhaps to other game worlds as well.

DyeHard.

Not sure about some of your choices i'd go with:

1 Captain w/ pistol and 7 longcoats 3 variants (incl SAW).
1 Female first-mate and 7 longcoats 3 variants (incl SAW).
1 Big second-mate with lots of guns and 7 Mercenaries/Gangsters 3 variants (incl SAW).

That would make these packs useful for those who would use them as militia/armd civilians.

1 Female spaceship mechanic and 7 Labourers 3 variants.
1 Female Space Strumpet and 7 businessmen and diplomats 3 variants.
1 Spaceship pilot (in Hawaiian shirt) and 7 spaceship crew types 3 variants.
1 Young female passenger with guns and axe, and 7 space zombies 3 variants. (although you would need a seperate pack with just the space zombies)
1 Young male passenger with medical gear and 7 Medical personnel (paramedic teams or nurses) 3 variants.
1 Space Holy-man and 7 space pilgrims 3 variants. (although i'm not sure what the pilgrims would look like?)

YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES

"YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES
YES"

So, I'll take that as a "yes" then…? ;-)

Jon (GZG)

CC should be along at some point, since he was asking about TMP link 15mm Space Cowboys in a earlier thread.

Oh, and another YES from me.

What mix should go with who has a lot of possibilities and flexibility. I was just typing off the top of my head.

A space pilgrim was just my thematic way to say unarmed people with a kinda western twist. You know "What you lookin' at pilgrim". (Not necessarily looking like Jimmy Stewart).

I could brain-storm on this for hours. If the line gets going, you can make a "Mule" and seated characters, The crew mounted on horse back, Other competing Space crews, A space Marshal, Sheriff, Deputy. Why not even a space "Cat House" with silver walls, and the people you might find there.

This is a line I could so buy into!

DyeHard

Tom when you mentioned 'Mule' my mind immediately raced towards a figure of the mutant leader in the Foundation Trilogy. Man, I haven't read those books in 20+ years.

;-D

Thanks,

John

SI, SI, SI, SI, SI, SI, SI, SI, SI!!!

CC

Jon,

I don't know what was happening to my email account, but I finally had a chance to send you an email, as you request on your initial post.

Glad to see you are seriously thinking about this! Are you always this in tune with the needs of the masses? I think you have definitely earned my loyalty.

CC

Emailed Yes. And I'd be willing to pay a little extra.

"Are you always this in tune with the needs of the masses?"

Well, wherever possible my yardstick has always been "would I like to see someone make this so that I could buy it myself, if I was a customer rather than a manufacturer?"
So probably 90% of what we make is stuff that I'd want for myself (the other 10% is stuff that I think will sell anyway, often based on how much we're asked for it). It's kept GZG in business for over 23 years now, so I guess most of the time we get it right….. ;-)

Jon (GZG)

Jon, that is so refreshing and commendable.

You are the best.

CC

Amen CC. I need to be getting my next order made for Jon. Nothing new going to be announced in the next week or two is there? I don't want to order and then slap my head!

:-D

Thanks,

John

I like the idea Jon.

As a matter of principal I have no problem payng extra for 'character' miniatures. From a purely pragmatic point of view, I understand that lower volumes of sales when compared to more standard military dictate this over and above any marketing 'premium' for being a 'character'.

However, playing devil's advocate, given that there are several packs of colonists, civilians and Vacc-suits floating – all of which are at standard prices, I find it hard to accept that the 'space cowboys' should cost any extra. They are after all, regardless of Sci Fi background, simply another pack of crew, adventurers, mercs or civilian/colonists.

I'd also add that whilst I really like Firefly/Serenity and would buy a pack of appropriate 'characters', the miniatures would need to match my expectations in their likenesses and poses for me to commit. I'm lucky though in having all the original Citadel Traveller miniatures and there are good stand-ins amongst these.

Personally, I'm more likely to buy Brooncoats and Alliance troopers (especially the troopers/Marines in the final scenes of SERENITY)and of course Reivers (Ghosts of Mars anyone?).

Cheers
Mark

John L. asked:
"Nothing new going to be announced in the next week or two is there? I don't want to order and then slap my head!"

I can pretty safely say that there will not be any new releases till sometime in Feb – there is stuff being worked on right now, but we've got so much re-stock to cast over the next couple of weeks that I won't have any of it in production till then. So, especially if you have one of our January vouchers to use, I'd get the order in soon for all the currently-available stuff you want – then you can always just do a follow-up order for the new bits a little later when we have them ready.

Then Mark said:
"However, playing devil's advocate, given that there are several packs of colonists, civilians and Vacc-suits floating – all of which are at standard prices, I find it hard to accept that the 'space cowboys' should cost any extra. They are after all, regardless of Sci Fi background, simply another pack of crew, adventurers, mercs or civilian/colonists."

Well, as I explained in the original question, the difference is in the number of different masters per pack. A pack of 8 individual characters requires 8 original sculpts, while a pack with 2 each of 4 different figures obviously requires just 4 sculpts. But, there are ways of getting round such things, so stay tuned…. ;-)

Jon (GZG)

Supplementary question:

Ravager Space Pirate Scum – with guns, or just close combat weapons? Or a mix?

Jon (GZG)

Ravager Space Pirate Scum – with guns, or just close combat weapons? Or a mix?

I'd prefer one pack of each type if not, a mix of both would work for me.

Yeah, probably a mix.

Ok, I gotta plan out my order for myou Jon. I think i'll focus more on vehicles with this one.

Thanks,

John

I would prefer two packs, if just to get more Reviver types, but a mix would also separate me from some of my money.

If you go with a line and not just a character pack, you can cross list quite a few of your existing packs as going well with the new line. It is always nice to get double duty out of a figure sculpt. In fact, you could offer the characters with some of your other already existing figures to fill out the packs. That might mean you would only need one new sculpt per new pack. That would keep the costs to you down, and thus you would not have to boost the pack price. (Just make it clear with older pack the accompanying figures came from on your listing.)

DyeHard

Said Space pirates should have an assortment of weapons, guns and pointy bits….

Are they done yet?

Oh I mean my answer is yes to all…..

As for space pirate/scum etc, as long as the close combat armed ones also have a holstered or slung gun everyone should be satisfied.

Agent Brown has it right. They should have a weapon holstered or slung.

Thanks,

John

"A pack of 8 individual characters requires 8 original sculpts, while a pack with 2 each of 4 different figures obviously requires just 4 sculpts."

'Mea Culpe' Jon. Listen kids, Don't drink and TMP!

Mark

Jon,

How soon would this be going into production? 6 months? A year? Sooner?

Have you received sufficient replies already?

Thanks.

CC

If it ain't too late…

Hell YEAH!

Jon,

So, what sort of feedback did you get? Is this project still on the table?

CC

Sign me up as interested!!!

There ya go, that's the spirit! Now shoot him an email like he asks!!!

"if you're SERIOUSLY interested and would plan to buy at least one pack if we made them, please EMAIL me directly to jonATgzgDOTcom, with "Yes, I want some Space Cowboys!" in the subject line of the mail."

CC

Email has been sent! Oh and CC, I'm holding you personally responsible for luring me over to 15mm!

LOL.

And I'm holding Mark Hannam personally responsible for my conversion!

CC

Guys, these episodes are going to provide me with some awesome terrain and scenics ideas:

hulu.com/firefly
TMP link

CC

Just letting you know ;)

I probably wouldn't buy them in 15MM(Not enough other similar stuff), I would easily pay 3X normal to get them in 25MM.